In my last post, I discussed three major "Hot Spots" in Computer Science and Animation:
- Historical connection:
Both AI and computer Science embody what Francis Bacon, one of the enlightenment fathers of the scientific method, meant when he said that "knowledge [of physical nature] is power [over it]." AI is in reality just a bunch of mathematical representations of the laws of nature. However with the advent of "self-teaching" AI, these computer programs have begun to refine programs in ways that scientists don't quite understand. The danger then, is that nature may begin to have power over us again if we fail to keep up with it.
- Communication connection:
Because AI presents so many benefits and risks for all of humanity, it is surrounded by a thick rhetorical debate. Both sides are currently making appeals to pathos and logos, in an attempt to establish a better sense of character, or ethos, with the general population.
2) The Internet of Things: The internet based connection between household appliances (fridge, toaster, oven, etc.) and the homeowners phone or computer.
- Historical connection:
The idea of having internet communication between all of your household appliances is the ultimate form of the public sphere from the enlightenment. It would essentially create constant communication between several home computer systems.
- Communication connection:
The Internet of Things is all about communication. It makes your appliances into your personal staff. They would respond immediately to your commands with the tap of a button from any screen you own. This information free-flow can work in reverse as well, with your appliances notifying you of what's running, what isn't, and more. It's a constant, two way stream of communication.
3) Animating Genders: Because of past traditions and audience expectations, animators limit the number of facial expressions female characters make.
- Historical connection:
The issue of female representation within animation strongly ties into the Romanticist idea of Individualism. As discussed earlier, a major issue with Disney's Frozen, was the way the two female leads appeared incredibly similar to each other and the lead of Tangled. Because these characters lacked individuality, audiences were left unsatisfied and frustrated.
- Communication connection:
As I discussed before, animators are trapped within the boundaries of their audiences expectations. On one hand, if animators loosen up the restrictive ways they animate women, they risk leading audiences to associate their female leads with past female antagonists. However, the longer animators continue to restrict themselves, the greater backlash they receive on social media.
Out of all of these issues, I'm very interested in the animation of Genders. Animation has had a huge rhetorical impact on my life, and I believe that animators have a responsibility to program individuals that viewers can relate to and learn from. By breaking the long-standing tradition, I believe that animators can have a huge impact on viewers and their social perceptions of both gender and animation itself.
Image Credit: "Henry Markram: Brain research & ICT futures" by Cea. is licensed under CC BY 2.0
I find the concerns about AI interesting. Part of me laughs because I don't see computers ever being able to mimic human life and reasoning which is what many of scifi conflicts come from. However, I see it as incredibly powerful because we can use machine learning and AI to help in unique ways with fields like medicine and genetics research.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how you pointed out animators are sort of trapped between a rock and a hard place with respect to how they animate women. I wonder if an audience would react badly to an animator actually doing something different with how they animate women. I think another historical connection you could make for that point is the enlightenment era and portraying things as they actually are, and not as they seem to be. The way I understand it, animation is sort of a science when it comes to how they portray people (they consult with psychologists on which way the eyes would look in a given situation, for example.) So you could tie in that use of science to this issue, maybe!
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